WKA: CKI: Phil De La O Fontana summary

KF3 Podium highlights hard-luck weekend for De La O in California
August 14, 2009 (Glendale, Ariz.) -- Sometimes, drivers have racing
weekends where it seems that everything that could go wrong, does. At the
third round of the 2009 Championship...

KF3 Podium highlights hard-luck weekend for De La O in California

August 14, 2009 (Glendale, Ariz.) -- Sometimes, drivers have racing
weekends where it seems that everything that could go wrong, does. At the
third round of the 2009 Championship Karting International season, held
at the CalSpeed Karting Center in Fontana, California, Phil De La O might
well have used up his "racing luck" for the rest of the season.

Facing setbacks in nearly every race that he was in, De La O could only
put his head down and keep going forward. He was rewarded with a strong
result in KF3. After qualifying third, he spun in the first heat race,
and was forced to drop out of the second one with braking problems. His
team was forced to make the necessary repairs to the kart in parc ferme,
which made the process longer than usual and De La O was late to the grid
for the third and final heat.

In the pre-final, De La O worked up to fifth place, putting him in
striking distance for a strong finish. And that is what he did, getting a
great start that vaulted him to third and advancing one more spot to
finish the race in second.

Also running in Iame Junior, De La O suffered a myriad of mechanical
issues throughout the heat races which left him starting the pre-final in
14th in a very strong field. Much as he did in KF3, De La O worked
through the field to finish in seventh place. From the green flag of the
final, De La O was on a charge through the field and a shot at the podium
looked likely -- until he was taken out of the race by another
competitor in the long, right handed turn four.

"We just had mechanical issues all weekend," said De La O.
"We were fast but luck just wasn't on our side. But things came
together really nicely for the KF3 pre-final and final, we had no
problems and went to the front, the CRG Bad Boy was on rails. It's
too bad that we couldn't do the same in Iame Junior. I got taken out
and put into a barrier by another racer. It was unfortunate, because we
would have had a third at least -- the CRG Blackstar was hooked up and
the motor was running good. This just wasn't our weekend."

De La O will have a busy upcoming racing schedule, which includes the
Gatorz Karting Cup season finale, a WKA Manufacturers Cup race, and the
Rock Island Grand Prix.